I was on a nine days leave. I planned to spend the leave in the city with my uncle. I called his wife and she agreed to be my host. Arrangements were made, and on Tuesday, I landed.

On Friday, my uncle and I were in his well-arranged sitting room. We were sharing memories of our growing up days. A car horned and my uncle stood up and peeped through the window. “My wife is my back,” he said. He stood beside the door to welcome his wife with a hug and a kiss.

“Welcome ma, how was office?” I asked. “I thank God.” she replied. She deeped her hand inside her pick giant bag and brought out four tickets. She shared the tickets to us. “What for?” I asked as I collected mine. “It was a ticket to watch ‘The night of thousand laughs’.

I was super excited because it will afford me the opportunity to see my favourite comedians live and direct. I could not wait for the day to break. “When are we going?” I asked when she came to inform me that food was ready that morning. “4pm” she replied.

We got there early. As a result we were able to secure seats in the row directly behind the VIP. I loved this position because it enable us see the stage clearly.

A very famous artist performed and he thrilled the audience as expected.

Next on the stage was a tall and handsome comedian. His name sounded completely unfamiliar. “I am a born comedian. I am gifted and talented in making people laugh and forget their names. I don’t say this to proud, I am one of the best comedians of this generation. I have accolades to show for it.”

As he was about to open the bag where he kept the plaques of awards, a voice roared from the bag, “My friend, do what you are paid to do and stop all this boring nonsense.” He turned deaf ears to the complainant and went on to show us the numerous award he had gotten.

After that he continued, “I was in Japan last week, Sweden two weeks ago, Germany last month. In all these countries, I made them laugh until they couldn’t laugh again.”

At this stage, almost everyone in the auditorium is tired of his self-appraisal. My uncle’s wife whispered, “Man, you don’t need to tell us how good a comedian you are. Make us laugh and we will tell the whole world.

Most of us are like this comedian. We kept bugging the world with certificates. You don’t need to tell us that you are a PhD holder, your work — contribution to your field of study — should tell us. You don’t need to tell us you are a graduate, you lifestyle should reflect that.

You don’t need to tell us how intelligent you are, your actions and inactions will do. Let you character, intelligence, knowledge, and actions speak for you. Not your mouth.

Talk is cheap. It does not bring result. Action maybe difficult, but it delivers result. Therefore, talk less, do more.